pêlovspitoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pêlo” and “pito” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,526
“pêlo” frequency rank
#43,589
“pito” frequency rank
70115
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pêlo pito
Definition vide pelo o mesmo que pinto; franguinho

Where the eye mixes pêlo and pito

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pêlo and pito follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
pêlo
4 ch
pito

Look-alike desk: pêlo vs pito

A purely visual mix-up. pêlo (/ˈpe.lu/) and pito (['pi.tu]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pêlo is recorded at frequency rank #26,526, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpe.lu/. pito is at rank #43,589, tagged as anoun, pronounced ['pi.tu].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 70115, this pair ranks #3,733 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pêlo vs pito

Shared letters: op. Private to "pêlo": lê. Private to "pito": it.

"pêlo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pito" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pito ← ipto · piot · pitto · ppito · ptio

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pêlo" and "pito" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpe.lu/ versus ['pi.tu]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pêlo" vs "pito" - which ranks higher?
"pêlo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,526 in our Portuguese list, against #43,589 for "pito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pêlo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #3,733 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pêlo" and "pito" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pito vs pix". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #3,733 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list